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Professional Bottling Line Solutions

For Small to Medium Size Operations

Cru Systems is an expert manufacturer and distributor of Gravity Fill Bottling Machines as well as providers of entire bottling line solutions. Our products allow you to rapidly and professionally fill your Wine, Beer and Spirits bottles - achieving the exact same fill height each and every time.

In addition to our professional-grade bottlers, Cru is also proud to provide our customers with the latest in bottling line technologies, including labelers, corkers, cappers and any other items you will need to bottle your product.

Our Gravity Fill Bottling Machines are incredibly dependable, very simple to operate and since they are gravity fed, there are no electrical worries. Also, with few moving parts, you can rely on easy bottling and low maintenance for years to come.

The Cru Systems’ Gravity Fill Bottling Machine is a complete, portable, bottle filler for the Wine, Beer and Spirits industries. This is the perfect system for small to medium size bottling runs - which makes it optimal for wineries, distilleries, breweries, or even the avid home bottling entrepreneur.

You will be amazed at how easy it is to bottle with Cru Systems bottling equipment. From the moment we set-up your system and teach you how truly simple they are to operate, you will wonder what took you to so long to bottle on your own!

Bottling In-House - Always the Best Option

Cru Systems has over 25 years of experience in mechanical design, with an emphasis on customization and solid customer service. We have built a reputation of consistently exceeding our client’s expectations.

We began our career in manufacturing bottling equipment as we didn’t see a good alternative to the high-cost of automated bottling lines or the expense and inconvenience of using outside facilities or bottling trucks.

We have always believed that bottling in-house was the best option to maintain complete control over the product throughout the entire process. Bottling in-house also allows you to bottle on your own terms and timeline, always ensuring supreme quality standards are met, no matter the size of the operation. So we created Cru Systems with two main goals:

To provide high-quality bottling equipment

To keep bottling costs to a minimum for our customers

We also noticed that there was a need for local service and support of the products. We truly believe that Cru Systems has filled these needs.

In addition to engineering custom bottlers, we also offer a complete array of bottling products to provide you with an entire bottling solution. Whether you need a filler, a corker, or an entire bottling line, let us configure a set-up for you. Our aim is to provide you with professional bottling equipment, designed to keep your bottling expenses to a minimum. Whatever your volume and needs, we can make it happen for you.

Stainless Steel Construction

Level Gauge for Easy Viewing

11 Gallon Tank

Bottling in Livermore

From Nozzle to Bottle!

4 Nozzle Gravity Fill Bottler

Filling at 800+ Bottles per Hour!

News Archive

Cru Systems Has a Few Heat Tunnels Left!

29 July, 2019

Summer is heating up and so are our brand-new Heat Tunnels! Our Table-Top Heat Shrink Closed Tunnel Machines are perfect for heat-shrinking bands, caps and capsules, without heating up your hands! They are made of metal construction, very easy to use and adjustable for different size bottles. We sell our Heat Tunnels for a very low price of $195.

When Cru Systems first began building Bottle Fillers, it was
because we saw a need in the marketplace for those small to medium size
bottling runs. What we didn’t realize
when we got started was that our growth would be so fast, yet so organic. What we started noticing is that when our
customers grew and changed, we needed to grow and change along with them.

When they told us they needed a labeler, a sparger, a corker, a capper, heat shrink solutions or anything else that helped them get their product packaged, we set out to build the best Partner Network we could assemble. We knew we couldn’t be all things to all people, so we have always concentrated on what we knew best, which was bottling line equipment. Therefore, we knew we understood bottling, have had decades of mechanical design experience as well as years working in the wine industry. Therefore, we used what we knew by researching for years to begin partnering.

When we got into the bottling business, we had no idea that some
of our customers would one day ask us for canning options. With the exponential growth of canned wine
sales in the US, it has opened up an entire new world for us. As many know, it started years ago with some
larger producers like Coppola Winery, selling sparkling wine in cans way back
in 2004. The perception of canned wines
has actually increased throughout the last 15 years. Many also appreciate the ease in transporting
the wine, the ability to recycle as well as the fast chilling of cans over
bottles.

Therefore, we have spent the better part of the last year
researching all aspects of canning and have found an amazing supplier that we
have decided to partner with. They have
already provided an array of canning line equipment to our current clients as
well as the utmost in customer service.
We were also pleased that their prices couldn’t be matched by any of the
other suppliers we found.

Although Cru Systems prides itself on providing
professional-grade bottling line equipment for small to medium size runs, we
are now happy to provide canning options as well to our customers!

When the Winemaker Becomes the Distiller

18 May, 2019

When Cru Systems of Napa, CA began its operations, it was to service the bottling needs of our Winemaking customers. As time went on, several of these winemakers began distilling spirits. Many saw distilling as an opportunity to use their raw materials in alternative products. It also appeared to be an excellent way to broaden their product offerings.

By adding to their product lines, many of these winemakers found that they were also able to boost their revenues. They noted it was much easier for them to set up a distilling process in their working winery as opposed to others who were starting from scratch. Another attraction into the world of distilling spirits is that these products currently face less competition, on a global basis, than the wines produced in the United States.

Many winemakers have noted that they are able to recoup their distilling start-up costs in a shorter amount of time than they would with grape growing and winemaking. The fact that some of the permits work for both operations, coupled with having the facilities and some of the machinery in place, helped to aid in the decision-making process as well.

Winemakers have an array of spirits to choose from when they consider distilling, including Grappa, Brandy, Vodka and Gin, just to name a few. Brandy is often an easy choice since the traditional way to produce Brandy is to distill wine. Although Grappa is also considered a type of brandy, it is actually produced by distilling the pomace, which is essentially the remains after a grape pressing (seeds, stems and peels).

The number of Craft Distilleries continues to increase every year in the United States. As of August of 2018, according to the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA), the number of new distilleries on the market was actually eclipsed by amount of sales made. This suggests that current distilleries are actually making more product, in addition to new folks coming into the distilling arena each year.

Due to these marketplace changes, Cru Systems had to be agile and has helped our Winemaking Customers as they made the foray into Distilling Spirits. Although new equipment was purchased for the distilling process, we also had to look at how the Spirits would be bottled. For instance, traditional corking often times would be substituted with a “T-Top” or “Twist Cap” enclosure. Traditional Foiling could also be replaced by Heat Shrink Machines. Also, with bottling spirits, the traditional Burgundian and Bordeaux 750ml Wine Bottles are replaced with an array of odd-shaped bottles, calling for all new labeling machines as well.

Lastly, there were many of our Winemaking customers who merely wanted to get their new creatively produced Spirits on the market, if even in a sample bottle. This meant that we had to work tirelessly with our Partner Network to find the proper machines that would efficiently fill, cap, seal and label the smaller 50ml “airplane size” bottles.

Through it all, Cru Systems is proud to continue serving our clients’ bottling needs, whether they are putting a Cabernet Sauvignon into a 750ml Bordeaux Bottle or an Eau De Vie in a 375ml Square Shape Bottle. We’re here to make sure the product is bottled properly in its vessel before making it to our glass!

When Should You Start Bottling Your Own?

06 May, 2019

When Should You Start Bottling Your Own?

At Cru Systems, we began manufacturing our own bottling equipment to provide a professional, affordable option for folks who were between the funnels & nozzles stage (under 1,000 cases per year) and those utilizing fully automated bottling lines (generally 10,000+ cases per year). In between these two stages, many consider choosing the “hand over your product” stage.

How do you know when you are ready to buy your own professional equipment and bottle your own? First you need to consider the following:

The size of your operation

The footprint and location of your facility

Your bottling volume and schedule

Your budget

Your plans for the future

When considering all of the above, of course budget will dictate the immediate decisions you make, but you also need to look at your future. Do your future plans include growth? Do you plan to increase, decrease or keep your volume status quo? If you are increasing your volume, how soon can you make up your initial investment in purchasing your own equipment?

Current budget is a tricky one since you are looking at current cash-flow in many cases. However, one should also consider the true cost of bottling outside of one’s facility and the cost of purchasing a machine, as well as the labor that will come with bottling in-house. All of these factors need to be studied before deciding if it’s time to contract an outside bottling service or purchase your own and bottle in-house.

When looking at mobile bottling, consider that costs can range from $2.00 to $2.50 per case, not including raw materials such as bottles, labels, corks, etc. Also, remember that you often times will not be bottling per your own schedule with a mobile bottler. Instead, you may sometimes face lead times of up to 6 months in some cases.

When bottling in-house, it can be equated to the “renting vs buying” scenario in real estate. Yes, there is an up-front cost and possibly financing costs will come into play. Over time though, the costs depreciate over the life of the bottling machines. Also, when the equipment is yours, you then have flexibility in scheduling when you decide to bottle your product as opposed to working with somebody else’s schedule. The lack of restrictions when owning your own equipment also gives you more liberty when it comes to your bottling decisions.

Another advantage in owning your own equipment and bottling on your own time-line is that your product continues to stay under your watchful eye. This allows you to maintain the quality of your product that you have upheld throughout its’ production.

An added benefit to owning your own Bottling Equipment is that you can often times generate additional revenue by bottling for other producers who do not yet own their own equipment. You also will have the option of bottling other types of products such as spirits.

At Cru Systems, we specialize in Modular Bottling Systems, meaning you can purchase one component of the system or the entire line. We specifically designed our professional systems to be both affordable and simple to operate. These machines are semi-automatic and prices start at about $1,100 for a 2-Nozzle Bottle Filler. Please feel free to call us and let’s talk through your current and projected needs. We would love to configure a space-saving, modular bottling system for your operation.

Cru System's Garage Start-Up Continues to Grow!

23 April, 2019

When we at Cru Systems began building American-Made Gravity Fill Bottling Machines in our garage in Napa, California, it was because we felt there was a need in the marketplace that wasn’t truly being met.

Many people start off bottling by using funnels, hoses and plastic equipment to handle the filling. Others may rely on trucks or outside facilities. We wanted to provide people with the option of owning their own Bottling Equipment and actually working with the manufacturer directly that built the machine.

From there, we began growing organically. When our customers needed something that we didn’t produce ourselves, we began investigating to find the exact solution they needed. Since that time, we have spent thousands of hours researching the bottling industry, trends in the marketplace as well as equipment throughout the world. We have visited other manufacturing facilities and of course, made many mistakes along the way!

During this time, we began assembling an amazing partner network – one that would allow us to offer entire bottling solutions to our customers, relying on our years of experience, research and of course lessons learned by trial and error. We worked tirelessly to find manufacturers that were as relentless about quality as we were at Cru Systems. They had to abide by the strict guidelines and professional standards that we held true to in every unit we manufactured. This has obviously been a very long process but one that has brought us great success as we assembled our Partner Network.

In trying to expand our bottling offerings to our customers, we never lost sight of offering professional-grade products, first and foremost. We also have stayed true to our mantra, no matter how cliché it may sound, of ALWAYS being there for our clients! We are proud to back up all products we sell, to always be a source of information and help with all bottling needs in any way necessary.

Today we are pleased to provide our clients complete Modular Bottling Systems. Whether they need one product or they want us to configure an entire bottling line, we are able to make that happen.

Although Silicon Valley is known for amazing start-ups (Hewlett Packard, anyone?), we are proud that our garage start-up happened right here in the Carneros region of beautiful Napa Valley!

Cru Systems Adds to Their Modular Bottling Line Offerings

03 April, 2019

Cru Systems, which started out manufacturing Gravity Fill Bottling Machines in Napa, has now expanded to include a complete modular offering to its customers. "We realized that our clients were frustrated doing all of the research and configuration themselves", said Steve McGarvey, President of Cru Systems. "We wanted to offer them a full modular line, utilizing our years of research experience in the industry, so they could concentrate on doing what they do best, make wine". Cru Systems has continued to add to its line of modular products, allowing customers to create the exact semi-automatic bottling line that works for them.

Today, you can work with Cru Systems to purchase not only a semi-automatic, gravity fill bottler, but also add components that complete your specific bottling system. These modular items can be purchased separately to augment a current line or as an all-inclusive modular solution that is configured from scratch. Items currently offered include Spargers/Rinsers, Fillers, Corkers and Cappers, Labelers as well as several other sundry items in the bottling process.

Cru Systems not only builds quality items in Napa, but is also very selective in partnering with superior manufacturers across the world that meet their standards and come with the highest in customer ratings. "We've done the painstaking research in the field for our clients", added Steve. "Therefore, our folks can feel good knowing that they are getting the highest quality machines at the best prices for their small to medium size bottling runs".

Cru Systems Announces Italian Partnership!

13 March, 2019

Cru Systems is excited to have just finalized a partnership with an incredible company in Northern Italy. Now, in addition to our custom US made fillers, we will be distributing for this amazing company that has been in the wine industry for nearly 100 years. This collaboration allows us to expand on our product line so that we can now provide full bottling solutions for our customers! Looking very forward to working with this 4th generation family-owned business – Ciao for now!

Made in Napa, California with Stainless Steel Construction
Comes with a full 1 year parts and labor warranty
Machine fills from the bottom to reduce foaming
Stainless Steel Float Valve automatically shuts off ...